Senate orders Bolante arrest
By Christine Avendaño, TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:17:00 10/28/2008
Filed Under: Graft & Corruption, Joc-joc Bolante, Politics
MANILA, Philippines—Arrest on sight!
This was the order issued by Senate President Manuel Villar Monday night against former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante on his scheduled return from US detention Tuesday night at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1.
Villar instructed Senate Sergeant at Arms Jose Balajadia Jr. to take Bolante into custody on the strength of an order issued by the upper chamber in December 2005.
Villar said the directive came after Bolante failed to show up in Senate hearings on allegations that P728 million in fertilizer funds was used to fund President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s election campaign in 2004.
“They have a specific instruction to arrest Bolante on sight and bring him to the Senate,” Villar said.
“To argue that the citation for contempt or arrest order approved by the Senate had lapsed automatically with the adjournment sine die of the 13th Congress would result in an absurd situation where a person held in contempt would just ignore and evade the Senate order until the adjournment of the session,” he said in a statement.
Senators were split on the measure.
Administration Sen. Edgardo Angara said that the order issued by then Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. in 2005 had lapsed.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan said that “unless withdrawn, it remains in force and in effect, the Senate being a continuing body.”
“The lawyer of Bolante knows this to be true and that is why he is seeking a TRO (temporary restraining order) otherwise he would have simply advised his client to ignore the warrant and they would not have sought court intervention,” Pangilinan said.
“The Senate, if it is to remain independent and truly able to exercise its constitutional duty to act as a check and balance must be able to enforce its orders,” he said.
“Otherwise, all that any Jose, Juan or Maria needs to do to render a valid arrest warrant void is to refuse to appear and to go into hiding.”
‘It’s a nonevent’
Pangilinan said that the United States “recognized the validity of the Senate arrest warrant” by detaining Bolante when he arrived in Los Angeles in July 2006, revoking his visa and putting him through deportation proceedings.
“The entire proceeding shall be completed by the Philippine Senate finally taking custody of Bolante,” Pangilinan said.
Malacañang officials downplayed news about Bolante, saying he’s simply “an ordinary person” returning home.
“It’s a non-event. The biggest event is the triumphant return tonight of President Macapagal-Arroyo,” Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said Monday in China.
The President was due to return Monday night from her five-day trip to China, highlighted by her attendance at the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting in Beijing.
“Joc-joc lang yan. Bola-bola lang yan (That’s just Joc-joc. It’s a joke),” Dureza told reporters in a phone-patch interview, chuckling.
Then turning serious, he added: “That’s being dribbled around by groups who are more interested in things like those. Why don’t they give more attention to, you know, our efforts for more investment, taking care of global issues?”
Not a major political issue
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said he doubted that Bolante’s homecoming and testimony would snowball into a major political issue against the administration.
“This can’t be considered more major than the other issues we’ve already confronted,” he said in a phone interview from France.
Besides, Gonzales added, Malacañang was open to the idea of Bolante testifying in the courts over his alleged role in the fund scandal.
“Bolante has been over-dramatized. We will see what he has to say. Malacañang is not closed to finding out what really happened. Let’s listen to what he has to say,” he said.
Dureza maintained that Malacañang had nothing to do with the alleged fund scam.
“The Palace does not get involved in irregular transactions. So if there is anything about a person or a transaction there, let the evidence be brought forth and let the proper person or agency be accountable,” he said.
Dureza said the public and media should devote more time to the government’s economic agenda amid the global financial crisis.
“Why are we talking of Joc-joc when there are many things to handle especially the economic efforts that Filipinos need to undertake?” he said.
Ordinary deportee
Airport officials said that Bolante would be treated as an ordinary deportee.
“We said we are transparent, so we did not make any special preparations for Bolante’s arrival. The media can cover it,” Angel Atutubo, Manila International Airport Authority assistant general manager for security, told reporters.
Lawyer Harry Roque said that his contacts in Chicago had reported that while Bolante had left the Kenosha County Detention Center where he had been held for the last two years, it remained to be known when he would actually board a flight to Manila.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez earlier tasked the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Immigration to meet Bolante and subject him to debriefing but not arrest or custody.
Gonzalez said the media could observe the proceedings and that the Senate sergeant at arms was free to arrest Bolante afterward.
However, an immigration officer said it was possible that Bolante could be spirited away.
“He may ask for police protection and it could be given to him, especially since he has been claiming that his life is in danger in the Philippines,” the source, who asked not to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the press, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net). With reports from Christian V. Esguerra, Jerome Aning, Miko Morelos and Dona Z. Pazzibugan
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